Jury undecided on death sentence for Luna

May 15, 2007|By FROM NEWS SERVCES

Prosecutors told jurors Monday that an appliance installer is eligible for the death penalty because the execution-style murders of seven people at a suburban restaurant 14 years ago were calculated and cold-blooded.

"This was as cold as cold can get," Assistant State's Atty. Linas Kelecius said before jurors withdrew to begin deliberations. "This is killing without feeling, without sympathy."

Juan Luna, 33, was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder in the 1993 killings at Brown's Chicken and Pasta restaurant in Palatine.

Jurors now will determine if Luna is eligible for capital punishment. They deliberated for about five hours Monday before leaving for the night and will remain sequestered until they reach a decision. Deliberations were to resume Tuesday morning.

Luna, now a married father of a young son, was 18 when prosecutors said he and high school friend James Degorski walked into the restaurant on Jan. 8, 1993, at closing time and shot and stabbed the victims during a robbery that netted less than $2,000.

To be eligible for the death penalty, the law requires that prosecutors show at least one of several aggravating factors, including multiple victims and premeditation. But, no death sentences have been carried out in Illinois since then-Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium in 1999. Gov. Blagojevich has continued the moratorium.